1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to compact printers having mechanized sheet feed capability and more specifically to improved sheet cassette constructions for such printers.
2. Background Art
Compact printers have become increasingly popular as output devices for personal computers, particularly portable or "lap-top" computers. One desirable accessory feature for such printers is for storing and selectively feeding sheets of print media, to and through the printing operation. However, the addition of space and structure for storing and feeding sheets adds size to the printer and thus works away from another desirable feature, compactness.
Concurrently field U.S. application Ser. No. 192568, entitled "Compact Printer With Adjustable Sheet Storage Cassette", by M. Piatt, describes a new structural approach for achieving the advantage of sheet storage and mechanized sheet feed, with minimal increase to the perimeter size (or "footprint" area) of the printer system. This approach provides a printer and sheet cassette of substantially sheet-size perimeter dimensions. The sheet cassette is rotatably coupled to the bottom of the printer so as to be indexable between a storage condition (with the perimeters of printer and cassette aligned) and an operative printing condition (wherein the stack of sheets in the cassette is operatively aligned with the print zone of the printer). With the cassette in its printing condition, a sheet feed roller can advance sheets from the cassette to the print path so that successive lines can be printed across the width of the paper in conventional page fashion.
This structural approach is very advantageous in reducing the storage-condition footprint area of the printer/feeder system. However, the addition of a sheet cassette to such compact printers, by necessity, increases the system height.